Five Sisters Follow Same Career Path To Become New York City Police Officers

Call out "Officer Holmes" when these five sisters get together and they could all respond.

That's because they're all members of New York City's Finest, the New York City Police Department, as well as members of the Holmes family.

Though, Bernice, who was the first of the sisters to join the force, now goes by her married name--Moran--she reveals they're all Holmeses through and through.

"We were raised to be strong and to pray," she says. "We had that kind of foundation growing up."

Bernice, 35, tells JET that even though she had uncles and cousins from her father's side of the family who were officers, her biggest influence came from an ex-boyfriend and former city Housing Bureau officer, Charlie Devine.

Devine brought the idea to Bernice's attention of how most people aren't comfortable around law enforcement officers. He thought that someone like her would be an asset to the force. "He said that I should take the test because people have a way of warming up to me."

So with Devine's persuasion Bernice took the test to enter the police force. At the age of 20 she became a New York City police officer and the main influence for her four sisters.

The 15-year veteran, assigned to patrol Borough Manhattan North, coaxed her siblings into considering law enforcement as a career by pointing out the benefits of the job.

"I just provided them with good information and told them about my personal experience on the job," she recalls. Bernice currently does personnel assistance work at a supervisory level.

Some of those benefits include a 20-year pension, which means retirement as early as the age of 40, paid holidays, unlimited sick time, up to 12 weeks' maternity leave and a minimum requirement of two years college experience.

"Juanita was the first one," Bernice recalls. "I told her, `This is a great job and a lot of the negativity that you read in the newspaper is wrong. It's totally different.' I talked her into coming on [the force], but now I've decided to follow in her footsteps."

The sisters from Hollis, in the city's Queens borough, are all ranked as police officers except for Juanita, who is a sergeant, the highest rank among the siblings. She is one test away from being promoted to lieutenant.

After 13 years of service to the NYPD, Juanita Holmes, 36, can still say that she enjoys what she does. "I've gained a lot from working here. My experience with this job has been pleasant overall."

As a sergeant Juanita splits her time between patrol (field work) and desk work at the 111th Precinct in Bayside, Queens. "I wanted a job that would give me freedom and versatility to do different things," says Juanita.

Officer Janice Holmes, 28, assigned to the 88th Precinct in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, has seven years of experience under her belt and works on the street narcotics enforcement unit. Part of her everyday duties include observing drug transactions and trying to apprehend drug dealers.

The ex-bank teller says that in her line of work the hardest part of the job is the unpredictability. At the same time the unpredictability is what she enjoys most.

"I plan on staying and I definitely plan on being promoted," Janice states. "I have to play catch-up right now because everybody's getting ahead of me. I'm up for the next sergeants exam in another year or so, and I'm going to definitely pass that one."

Estella Holmes, 29, Janice's partner while in the police academy, says that one of the hardest things about her occupation is being female and a minority. "It's a predominately White male job. Sometimes they [White male officers] don't think you're capable of performing your job as well as they do," she explains.

Estella, who also has seven years in law enforcement, considers it most rewarding that she works in a community with people she can identify with.

"A lot of minorities have a negative image of the police department, so by working around them I can enforce a positive image," says Estella, who works at the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica, Queens. "They can see that not all officers are overly aggressive and corrupt or whatever else they think of us."

This year the Holmes family celebrated the graduation of the fifth sister to enter the New York Police Department, Selena Holmes, 27, the baby of the bunch.

"I didn't grow up wanting to be a police officer," says the rookie of the group. "I wanted to be a lawyer or a teacher." Her plans changed, however, not only because of Bernice's influence but also because of her studies in the field of criminal justice.

Much like her sisters, Selena, who works out of Manhattan's 24th Precinct, enjoys what she does for a living. "I have no regrets. I'm definitely where I want to be in life. This is one of the best jobs there is," she says.

Joyce Holmes, 54, the mother of the Holmes sisters, says she's very proud of her daughters and is very happy that everyone has been safe thus far.